Microsoft announced today that it would launch its new Xbox 360 console in Japan and Europe in time for the year-end holiday shopping season. Microsoft had already announced plans to launch the console this year in the United States ahead of the holiday season, which begins in late November. It had previously said Japanese and European launches would follow within six weeks. X360 will feature three PowerPC-based microprocessors joined onto one chip to deliver powerful computing and advanced graphics, as well as a detachable 20-gigabyte hard drive and a wireless controller.

Pirates of the XXI Century is a new FPS in the works over at Eastern European developer DioSoft. Not much info is available at this point but Pirates of the XXI Century revolves around modern day sea pirates with action taking place on load, air, sea and even underwater. You will be able to play as either a member of Hong Kong’s triads, modern day pirate or soldier of US Special Forces and have use of about 30 weapons.

EA has signed a pact with New Line Cinema extending its rights to make games based on The Lord of the Rings franchise using images and actor likenesses from the pic trilogy. In addition, EA has now also signed a deal with with Tolkien Enterprises for J.R.R. Tolkien's literary trilogy, previously in the hands of Vivendi, giving it rights to use events and characters from the books not used in the pics.

For the very first time in franchise history, the next game in the series won't debut on a Nintendo platform, but is so far only scheduled for PS3 and X360. While it is way too early to speculate on a release date, Capcom producer Takeuchi Jun says "We would need 3 or maybe 5 years to fully exploit the capabilities of the new generation of systems, but right now this is the project Capcom is putting the most effort into." From the media available, it seems RE5 will feature Chris Redfield from the original RE and Code Veronica.

Metro 3D announced today that it has reached an agreement with Data Design Interactive to publish 9 affordable Playstation2 and budget PC games in the UK. Read more for details ...

Valve lastest Steam Update has news about Day of Defeat Source and the upcoming Lost Coast release. Dod Source is currently being tested and is scheduled for release later this summer. Polishing work is being done right now on the player animations, as well as lighting work on the various maps. Current favorite features include the new grenade stun effect, and the ability to deploy the machine gun on any surface. In other news, HL2: Lost Coast (the upcoming free Half-Life 2 map for Half-Life 2 owners which showcases HDR rendering technology) is nearing completion and will be released soon on Steam. Valve promises extra, yet undisclosed, content with Lost Coast, but more info to come shortly ...

Another day, another batch of game trailers were released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for :

• Tomb Raider Legend - Trailer #4
• We Love Katamari - Trailer #2
• Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves - Trailer
• The Con [PSP] - Trailer
• Jak X: Combat Racing - Trailer #4
• Sun - Trailer
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Frantix will put your puzzle-solving skills to the test as you adventure through surreal worlds to solve each puzzle in the shortest amount of time. Featuring frantic puzzle-solving action, beautiful 3D graphics, more than 150 challenging levels to play through, power pick-ups, and a diverse array of monsters and unique obstacles, Frantix is easy to pick up, but hard to put down.

Darkwatch is an original FPS combining the Western and Horror genres to create a cinematic experience with unparalleled depth and game play variety. As half-vampire Jericho Cross, players must hunt down a powerful vampire lord whose undead minions have overrun the Wild West. The result is a stylistic premise blending western and vampire-horror milieus, and one injected with innovative concepts.

The Gamestar September issue has a 6 page preview article on Battle for Middle Earth 2. In contrary to the first BFME title, the sequel will take part in the North where a battle is raging between Sauron's forces vs. elves and dwarves. It will be possible to create/customize your own hero, apart from known figures such as Arwin, and become more powerful as you progress in the game. One of the main changes is that you will no longer be restricted in where you place your buildings, you will have total control over where you want to construct your base. While BFME was all land based, the sequel will also take the action on the sea, naval battles included, courtesy of an updated engine. In short, BFME 2 will have 15 missions per side, new units, new heroes, new races, new multiplayer mode, is currently about 50% complete and is scheduled for Q1 2006.

Wolfschanze is an FPS/TPP game that takes place in World War 2 reality and is inspired by actual events. The story tells about a group of highest-ranking German officers preparing assassination of the man who's pushing Germany towards the war - Hitler.

You may have noticed the site was unreachable for most of Saturday due to some unforseen DNS issues at our hosting company, which now obviously have been resolved. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it's back to business now ...

An unidentified paramilitary force infiltrates a multi-billion dollar aerospace compound, the government responds by sending in Special Forces, but loses contact as an eerie signal interrupts radio communications. When the interference subsides moments later, the team has been literally torn apart. Your mission is simple: Eliminate the intruders at any cost. Determine the origin of the signal. And contain this crisis before it spirals out of control.

Phantasy Star Universe is being developed for both the PS2 and the PC, offering two complete RPG experiences - a single-player action adventure spanning multiple planets, and a robust online multi-player component.

Silicon Knights teased us at E3 with the notion that it was developing Too Human as a trilogy, and it would finally make its debut on the X360. Initially announced as a PSOne title, Too Human is a mystical action adventure game with a sci-fi mixture, using the Unreal Engine 3, but apart from that there has been no additional information released. In the meantime, enjoy the first screens ...

Another day, another batch of game trailers were released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for :

• Bet on Soldier - Trailer
• Far Cry Instincts - Island Editor Trailer
• Need For Speed Most Wanted - Trailer (2)
• Rainbow Six 4: Lockdown - AI Trailer
• Nightwatch - Trailer
• Resident Evil 5 (PS3/X360) - Trailer
• Star Wars Battlefront 2 - Trailer #5
• Star Wars: Empire at War - Trailer
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Unreal Tournament: Expanded Multiplayer is a class based multiplayer team game. UT XMP is a total conversion for UT2004, developed by Free Monkey Interactive, and is based upon Unreal II: Expanded Multiplayer, released in 2003 by the now-defunct Legend Entertainment. Public Beta 2 has now been released with over 180 fixes. Read more for download links ...

World Racing 2 enhances the technology of the game's fore-runner, which introduced an innovative 3D landscape technology and sophisticated driving physics. While World Racing focussed on the simulation aspect, World Racing 2 will put the fun of driving at centre stage and offer optimised arcade racing characteristics, rich and varied range of mission modes, lively scenarios, enhanced tuning options and a great variety of cars.

Microsoft announced on Friday that the next version of its operating system will be "Windows Vista." Formerly known by its code-name Longhorn, Windows Vista is scheduled to launch in the second half of 2006, and Microsoft has promised numerous enhancements, including better security, graphics and computing over the Web.

Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War is a detailed real-time strategy game that lets players completely command one of the four mightiest empires of the ancient world: Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Persia. Rise & Fall places players directly in the heart of combat as a heroic general fighting side-by-side with their troops as one of history's eight greatest heroes battling to bring victory to their nation on the battlefield.